Softwr

Business Intelligence · head to head

Pigment vs Power BI

Pigment logo

Pigment

Business Intelligence

Enterprise business planning platform for finance, sales and workforce modelling

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Power BI logo

Power BI

Business Intelligence

Business analytics by Microsoft

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Power BI has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Pigment no pricing is published and the structure has three moving parts, platform fee, use-case fees and tiered seats, so two companies of the same size can pay very different amounts and neither can benchmark the other.; Power BI free tier cannot publish or share reports; Pro tier required for collaboration
  • They diverge on capability: Pigment covers Dimensional modelling, Power BI covers AI-powered Insights.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Pigment and Power BI actually diverge.

Attributes where Pigment and Power BI differ
AttributePigmentPower BI
Starting priceOn requestFree
Pricing modelquoteUnknown
Free tierNoYes
PlatformsWebWeb, Desktop, Mobile
FoundedUnknown1975

Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated), category (Business Intelligence).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Pigment

  • Dimensional modelling
  • Scenario planning
  • Data connectors
  • Application blocks
  • Reporting and boards
  • Access control
  • Audit trail
  • AI assistance

Only in Power BI

  • AI-powered Insights
  • Natural Language Queries
  • Real-time Dashboards
  • Paginated Reports
  • Mobile Apps
  • Excel
  • Azure
  • Dynamics 365

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Pigment

  • A finance team retiring a fragile Excel consolidation that no one can audit and only one person can runnot Power BI
  • Sales operations modelling quota, territory and headcount capacity against a revenue plan in the same system finance usesnot Power BI
  • A company that needs monthly re-forecasting fast enough to run scenarios live in the leadership meetingnot Power BI
  • Replacing an ageing Anaplan estate where the model has become unmaintainable and per-workspace costs have crept upnot Power BI

Power BI

  • Self-service analyticsnot Pigment
  • Data explorationnot Pigment
  • Ad-hoc reportingnot Pigment
  • Collaborative analysisnot Pigment
  • Embedded analyticsnot Pigment

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Pigment

  • No pricing is published and the structure has three moving parts, platform fee, use-case fees and tiered seats, so two companies of the same size can pay very different amounts and neither can benchmark the other.
  • Cost scales with planning processes rather than with company size, so a successful first deployment creates internal demand that directly increases the bill at renewal.
  • It requires a modelling owner. Without a person who understands dimensional design, teams rebuild spreadsheet patterns in Pigment and inherit all the maintenance problems they were trying to escape.
  • Implementation is partner-led and measured in months, so the payback horizon is long compared with lighter FP&A tools that a controller can configure alone.
  • The connector library covers major systems well but the long tail is thinner than the incumbents, and industry-specific source systems often need a warehouse or a file drop in between.

Power BI

  • Free tier cannot publish or share reports; Pro tier required for collaboration
  • Free tier cannot schedule automatic data refreshes
  • Offline capabilities limited to local Power BI Desktop; cloud service always requires internet
  • Data refresh capped at 8 times per day on Pro tier without Premium Per User

Pricing, plan by plan

Pigment

On request
  • Pigment platform$undefined/year
    • Platform fee plus per use-case fees
    • Licences tiered as editor, contributor and explorer
    • No free tier and no self-service signup

Power BI

Free
  • FreeFree
    • Local report creation in Power BI Desktop
    • Cannot publish or share
    • No scheduled refreshes
  • Power BI Pro$14/user/month
    • Publish and share reports
    • Up to 8 scheduled refreshes/day
    • Collaborate with other Pro users
  • Premium Per User$24/user/month
    • All Pro features
    • Up to 48 scheduled refreshes/day
    • Copilot integration

Which should you pick?

Choose Pigment if

  • You need dimensional modelling.
  • You also want scenario planning.
Pigment review

Choose Power BI if

  • You need ai-powered insights.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Desktop, Mobile.
  • You also want natural language queries.
Power BI review

Questions people ask

Is Pigment or Power BI better?
Neither clearly leads. Pigment starts at On request and Power BI at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Pigment or Power BI?
Power BI has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at On request for Pigment and Free for Power BI.
Does Pigment or Power BI run on more platforms?
Pigment runs on Web. Power BI runs on Web, Desktop, Mobile.
Can I use Power BI for free?
Yes. Power BI has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Pigment starts at On request.
What is Pigment best used for?
Pigment is most often used for a finance team retiring a fragile excel consolidation that no one can audit and only one person can run, sales operations modelling quota, territory and headcount capacity against a revenue plan in the same system finance uses, a company that needs monthly re-forecasting fast enough to run scenarios live in the leadership meeting, replacing an ageing anaplan estate where the model has become unmaintainable and per-workspace costs have crept up. Of those, a finance team retiring a fragile excel consolidation that no one can audit and only one person can run and sales operations modelling quota, territory and headcount capacity against a revenue plan in the same system finance uses are not what Power BI is typically brought in for.
What can Pigment do that Power BI cannot?
Pigment covers Dimensional modelling, Scenario planning, Data connectors, Application blocks. Power BI covers AI-powered Insights, Natural Language Queries, Real-time Dashboards, Paginated Reports.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Pigment: Does Pigment publish prices?

No. Expect a quote combining a platform fee, fees per planning use case, and seat licences split into editor, contributor and explorer tiers.

Power BI: Can I use Power BI Desktop offline?

Power BI Desktop runs locally and can edit reports offline, but publishing to the service and refreshing cloud data sources requires internet connection. Offline reports show cached data from the last refresh.

Source
Pigment: Is Pigment an alternative to Anaplan?

It is positioned directly against Anaplan and much of its customer base is migrating from it, mainly citing modelling readability and recalculation speed.

Power BI: What are the data refresh limits for each tier?

Power BI Premium Per User allows up to 48 scheduled refreshes per day, while Pro tier is limited to 8 scheduled refreshes per day. Free tier cannot schedule automatic refreshes.

Source
Pigment: Can we use it without consultants?

In practice most deployments use Pigment or a partner for the initial build. Ongoing model changes can be handled in-house once someone owns the modelling discipline.

Power BI: Can I use Power BI Free with shared data sources?

Free tier users can create local reports in Power BI Desktop but cannot publish to the Power BI Service for collaboration. Publishing requires Power BI Pro ($14/user/month).

Source
Pigment: Where is data hosted?

Pigment is a European vendor with regional hosting options, which is often the deciding factor for EU buyers with data residency requirements.

Power BI: Is SSO available and on which plan?

SSO is available on Power BI Premium Per User ($24/user/month) and Fabric capacity plans through Azure AD integration.

Source
Power BI: What does Copilot require in Power BI?

Copilot for natural language queries and automatic report generation requires Power BI Premium Per User or Fabric capacity pricing, not available on Pro or Free tiers.

Source
Share

Related pages

More on Pigment

More on Power BI

Keep looking

Other head to heads